Combat Press Boxing Rankings: June 2018

In the world of boxing, the rankings picture can get a little muddled. There are multiple titleholders and different organizational rankings. We’ve taken the approach of simply identifying who we think are the 10 best fighters in each weight class as of this moment.

Every month, Combat Press will rank each weight class from heavyweight to strawweight, as well as the pound-for-pound rankings.

Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from the previous rankings.

Heavyweight

Anthony Joshua (1)

Deontay Wilder (2)

Luis Ortiz (3)

Joseph Parker (4)

Alexander Povetkin (5)

Jarrell Miller (7)

Kubrat Pulev (6)

Dillian Whyte (8)

Andy Ruiz Jr. (9)

Carlos Takam (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Cruiserweight (200 Pounds)

Oleksandr Usyk (1)

Murat Gassiev (2)

Mairis Briedis (3)

Denis Lebedev (4)

Krzysztof Glowacki (5)

Yunier Dorticos (6)

Ilunga Makabu (7)

Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (8)

Maksim Vlasov (9)

Dmitry Kudryashov (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Light Heavyweight (175 Pounds)

Adonis Stevenson (1)

Sergey Kovalev (2)

Eleider Alvarez (3)

Badou Jack (7)

Oleksandr Gvozdyk (4)

Artur Beterbiev (5)

Dmitry Bivol (6)

Sullivan Barrera (8)

Marcus Browne (9)

Joe Smith Jr. (10)

Adonis Stevenson and Badou Jack delivered one of the best fights of 2018, but it took a few rounds for the action to get going. That proved costly for Jack, whose slow start most likely resulted in the fight ending in a draw. As a result, Stevenson maintains his No. 1 ranking and Jack moves up to No. 4.

Super Middleweight (168 Pounds)

Gilberto Ramirez (1)

George Groves (2)

James DeGale (3)

Chris Eubank Jr. (4)

Anthony Dirrell (5)

Callum Smith (6)

Jose Uzcategui (7)

David Benavidez (8)

Tyron Zeuge (9)

Jesse Hart (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Middleweight (160 Pounds)

Gennady Golovkin (1)

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2)

Daniel Jacobs (3)

Billy Joe Saunders (4)

Jermall Charlo (6)

David Lemieux (5)

Sergiy Derevyanchenko (7)

Avtandil Khurtsidze (8)

Ryota Murata (9)

Demetrius Andrade (10)

GGG is back, and he didn’t waste any time proving he is the No. 1 middleweight on the planet. Golovkin knocked out Vanes Martirosyan in the second round. French-Canadian David Lemieux also returned for his first fight since his loss to Billy Joe Saunders. Lemieux took a decision win over Karim Achour to stay at No. 6.

Jr. Middleweight (154 Pounds)

Jarrett Hurd (3)

Erislandy Lara (1)

Jermell Charlo (2)

Julian Williams (4)

Liam Smith (6)

Kell Brook (7)

Amir Khan (8)

Maciej Sulecki (9)

Austin Trout (10)

Jaime Munguia (NR)

Dropped from the rankings: Sadam Ali (5)

Sadam Ali was absolutely battered and quickly finished after multiple knockdowns by Jaime Munguia. Ali clearly is a welterweight and will surely move back down to that weight class. He was dwarfed by the bigger Munguia. The power and size of Munguia was too much for Ali to handle. The win for Munguia means there’s a bit of shuffling in the rankings. Ali slides out of the top 10, while Munguia enters at No. 10.

Welterweight (147 Pounds)

Keith Thurman (1)

Errol Spence Jr. (2)

Danny Garcia (3)

Shawn Porter (4)

Jeff Horn (6)

Jessie Vargas (7)

Manny Pacquiao (8)

Lamont Peterson (9)

Sadam Ali (10)

Egidijus Kavaliauskas (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Jr. Welterweight (140 Pounds)

Terence Crawford (1)

Mikey Garcia (2)

Regis Prograis (3)

Antonio Orozco (4)

Viktor Postol (5)

Eduard Troyanovsky (6)

Julius Indongo (7)

Sergey Lipinets (8)

Adrien Broner (9)

Jose Carlos Ramirez (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Lightweight (135 Pounds)

Mikey Garcia (2)

Vasyl Lomachenko (NR)

Jorge Linares (1)

Terry Flanagan (3)

Robert Easter (4)

Raymundo Beltran (5)

Anthony Crolla (6)

Dejan Zlaticanin (7)

Luke Campbell (8)

Richard Commey (10)

Dropped from the rankings: Denis Shafikov (9)

In yet another superfight in the boxing world, Jorge Linares faced Vasyl Lomachenko in a lightweight contest. In what turned out to be a great back-and-forth affair, Lomachenko rebounded from being dropped briefly to score the knockout of Linares with a vicious body shot. Lomachenko enters the rankings at No. 2, behind only Mikey Garcia. Meanwhile, Linares falls to the third spot and Denis Shafikov falls out of the rankings. Garcia and Lomachenko are on a collision course for a historical fight that will hopefully happen in the next year. Luke Campbell fought for the first time since a TKO loss to the aforementioned Linares. Campbell rebounded with a TKO win over Troy James.

Jr. Lightweight (130 Pounds)

Vasyl Lomachenko (1)

Miguel Berchelt (2)

Alberto Machado (3)

Gervonta Davis (4)

Francisco Vargas (5)

Jezreel Corrales (6)

Robinson Castellanos (7)

Miguel Roman (8)

Orlando Salido (9)

Jhonny Gonzalez (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Featherweight (126 Pounds)

Gary Russell Jr. (1)

Leo Santa Cruz (2)

Carl Frampton (3)

Abner Mares (5)

Oscar Valdez (6)

Scott Quigg (7)

Josh Warrington (NR)

Lee Selby (4)

Joseph Diaz Jr. (8)

Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar (9)

Dropped from the rankings: Jesus Rojas (10)

Gary Russell Jr. decided to leave boxing hibernation and make his mandatory title defense. Russell defeated Joseph Diaz Jr. in what was a really solid performance for the No. 1-ranked fighter. It’d be nice to see Russell in action more than once a year, though. Lee Selby lost a split decision to Josh Warrington. As a result of the upset, Warrington enters the rankings at No. 7, with Selby falling to eighth and Jesus Rojas dropping from the top 10 entirely.

Jr. Featherweight (122 Pounds)

Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)

Rey Vargas (2)

Isaac Dogboe (4)

Ryosuke Iwasa (5)

Jessie Magdaleno (6)

Diego De La Hoya (7)

Daniel Roman (8)

Jonathan Guzman (9)

Moises Flores (10)

Emanuel Navarrete (NR)

Dropped from the rankings: Julio Ceja (3)

Rey Vargas retained his WBC championship by defeating Azat Hovhannisyan. Vargas stays at No. 2 in the rankings. Julio Ceja was upset by Franklin Manzanilla. With no significant victories in a few years, Ceja takes a dramatic fall out of the top 10. In Ceja’s place, the 23-year-old Emanuel Navarrete enters the rankings at No. 10.

Bantamweight (118 Pounds)

Luis Nery (1)

Ryan Burnett (2)

Naoya Inoue (NR)

Jamie McDonnell (4)

Juan Carlos Payano (5)

Zhanat Zhakiyanov (6)

Emmanuel Rodriguez (NR)

Zolani Tete (7)

Liborio Solis (8)

Paul Butler (10)

Dropped from the rankings: Shinsuke Yamanaka (3), Karim Guerfi (9)

“The Monster” Naoya Inoue made his divisional debut. Inoue wasted no time in knocking out No. 4-ranked Jamie McDonnell. Inoue, 25, has now won titles in three weight classes. He replaces Shinsuke Yamanaka, whose retirement seems to be official now, at the No. 3 spot. Paul Butler was outclassed by previously unranked competitor Emmanuel Rodriguez. Rodriguez moves into the top 10. Karim Guerfi falls from the rankings after suffering a knockout loss.

Jr. Bantamweight (115 Pounds)

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (1)

Naoya Inoue (2)

Juan Francisco Estrada (3)

Jerwin Ancajas (4)

Khalid Yafai (5)

Roman Gonzalez (6)

McWilliams Arroyo (7)

Carlos Cuadras (8)

Kohei Kono (9)

Rau’shee Warren (10)

Both Jerwin Ancajas and Khalid Yafai were victorious on Top Rank’s card in late May. They retain their respective spots in the rankings.

Flyweight (112 Pounds)

Donnie Nietes (1)

Kazuto Ioka (2)

Juan Carlos Reveco (3)

Cristofer Rosales (4)

Daigo Higa (5)

Artem Dalakian (6)

Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (7)

Sho Kimura (8)

Moruti Mthalane (9)

Andrew Selby (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Jr. Flyweight (108 Pounds)

Ken Shiro (1)

Pedro Guevara (2)

Milan Melindo (3)

Hekkie Budler (8)

Ryoichi Taguchi(4)

Carlos Canizales (5)

Felix Alvarado (6)

Ganigan Lopez (8)

Randy Petalcorin (9)

Angel Acosta (10)

Hekkie Budler won a razor-thin decision over Ryoichi Taguchi in a bit of an upset. Budler moves up to No. 4, while Taguchi slides down to fifth. Ken Shiro continued his divisional dominance with a second-round knockout of Ganigan Lopez.

Strawweight (105 Pounds)

Wanheng Menayothin (1)

Knockout CP Freshmart (2)

Hiroto Kyoguchi (3)

Byron Rojas (4)

Jose Argumedo (5)

Leroy Estrada (6)

Simphiwe Khonco (7)

Carlos Buitrago (8)

Joey Canoy (9)

Ryuya Yamanaka (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

About The Author

Justyn Likes was born in Germany and raised on a military base. A fan of MMA since 2006, Justyn recently started writing about the sport in 2015. He has a Bachelor's in History and currently resides in San Antonio, Texas. Other than covering MMA, Justyn is a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan.